Japan journal of nursing science : JJNS
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To provide an overview of the administration of opioid analgesics by nurses when prescription is on an "as-needed" basis for postoperative pain, and to identify the important factors that determine the decisions of nurses, by using the framework of predisposing, reinforcing, and enabling causes in educational diagnosis and evaluation. ⋯ A knowledge deficit was observed to be the reason in most cases for a nurse's failure to administrate adequate analgesics for postoperative pain relief. Pain-related education for nurses is the cornerstone to improve pain management. The integration of enabling and reinforcing factors will help nurses to develop the ability to make the decision to engage in a comprehensive intervention to improve pain management and patient outcomes.